From Lenin's friend to great oil magnate
Armand Hammer became America's unofficial connection to the Soviet regime.
At the end of 1921, the leader of the Soviet revolution, Vladimir Lenin, wrote a very affectionate letter to a young American he had recently met in Moscow. In the letter, he wished him great success with the concession and gave his regards to his father. The young man in question was named Armand Hammer. He had just graduated in medicine, and the purpose of the concession in the letter was to exploit some of the Soviet Union's natural resources. Half a century later, Hammer was one of the world's great oil magnates through his company, Occidental Petroleum.
The story begins much earlier, with Hammer's father being born in Imperial Russia and emigrating to the United States at the end of the 19th century. Once settled, he supported the Russian revolutionaries, while also joining the Socialist Labor Party of America and later founding the Bolshevik-oriented Communist Party of the United States (1919). Given this background, it's understandable that Armand Hammer had access to Lenin, with whom he established a close relationship: until 1930, his presence in Moscow was permanent, and from that moment on, he became the unofficial link between the United States and the Soviet regime. During this initial period, he set up a pencil factory in Russia, the Hammer Pencil Company (1926), which allowed him to earn a lot of money. He took advantage of this long stay in the USSR to begin building a large collection of art objects, much of it from the Romanov family estates, and also to represent dozens of American companies in that country. The end of his Soviet period was marked by his personal support for Lev Trotsky, instead of the victor in the internal dispute, Joseph Stalin.
The big oil operation
His return to the United States coincided with the repeal of Prohibition, a situation that prompted him to enter the world of whiskey distilleries through a company that would later become known as United Distillers of America. This business, of course, also earned him huge sums of money. Other areas in which he invested were radio stations—he was one of the shareholders of the legendary Mutual Broadcasting System—and art galleries. Although by now he was already a multimillionaire, his big deal came just as he had decided to retire. In the mid-1950s, he invested part of his fortune in acquiring a majority stake in the oil company Occidental Petroleum, an old company that was struggling to survive. Shortly before his death in the late 1980s, he had made it one of the eight largest oil companies in the United States. Before that, in the 1970s, the company was partially nationalized by the Libyan government, and the agreements Hammer reached with them would forever change the oil industry: the legendary Seven Sisters would suddenly lose influence in setting crude oil prices in favor of the Organization of Producing Countries.
On the other hand, after Stalinism, relations with the USSR revived, among other reasons because Hammer was convinced that establishing cultural and commercial ties was a good way to avoid a nuclear conflict. But he not only maintained close relations with the communist elites; the network extended throughout the West, including the British royal family. He described himself as "above all else, a catalyst, dedicated to uniting people and situations." The truth is, he was a great flatterer with a generous, bold, and energetic smile.
In the political sphere, he was long considered the shadow financier of communist movements in the United States. In another arena, he was linked to the Democratic Party for many years, a connection that did not prevent him from donating to Nixon's campaign, a gesture later deemed illegal and for which he was fined. And as is often the case with American magnates, his philanthropic side cannot be overlooked. In addition to collaborating with many institutions, he created the Armand Hammer Foundation, to which he donated millions of dollars for charitable purposes.
His importance was so significant and enduring that when he died in 1990, USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev issued a statement praising his role as a key player in Soviet-American relations.